During a “wonderful” talk that “provided much food for thought” Fr Peter described the influence that climate change is having on the indigenous communities in Peru. He went on to describe a new scheme, backed by Pope Francis, called REPAM “Red Eclesial PanAmazónica”, which transaltes to “PanAmazon Ecclesial Network”. The scheme allowed the leaders of indigenous communities in Latin America to talk about their experiences in front of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights at the UN.

After the event Fr Peter said “I spoke today from a Latin American perspective about climate change. As Catholics, we all have our own part to play in helping to fight against poverty and climate change across the world.”

CAFOD’s Campaigns Manager Sarah Croft.

After a short break, Sarah Croft, who is CAFOD’s Campaigns Manager spoke about CAFOD’s Power to Be campaign which calls on Melanie Robinson, the UK’s representative at the World Bank, to support renewable energy which tackles poverty, so everyone can have the chance to fulfill their God-given potential. It was said that Sarah “did a great job in explaining the new project”.

The audience enjoying one of the talks.

The discussion then turned to the LiveSimply Award which is an opportunity for Catholic communities – parishes, schools, religious orders and chaplaincies – to respond to Pope Francis’ invitation in Laudato Si’ to “work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us”. Livesimply is beginning to take off across the Archdiocese, with St Anne’s Ormskirk for example hosting a Livesimply weekend to celebrate the parish reaching the midway stage.

Unfortunately the local MP was unable to attend, so for the final session of the day Sarah Croft spoke about the MP Correspondent Scheme which is a scheme that enables you to help ensure that the voices of many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are heard in the corridors of power.

After the event Sarah said “We are privileged and inspired to have heard first-hand how our sisters and brothers in Latin America are responding to the Pope’s call to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. We have our part to play in the UK too.”